Best Burgers in Town
by Sperrow
Summary: Dean is full of his problems and leaves home searching for a friend he could talk to; Sophie. Someone they'd helped a while back and that always understood him and whatever he was going through. (Set somewhere in the beginning of season 9)


It was one of those calm Sundays in which she got to enjoy her time reading a book or catching up with her TV shows, and it was going as planned until there was a knock on the door and a familiar voice that said "Sophie?"

She turned her head to meet Dean's eyes for the first time in two years. He seemed the same, but his eyes were different.

"Dean Winchester!" She said in her British accent. "Wow."

He smiled and she could see the wrinkles near his eyes. "What?"

"Nothing. I mean, it's been a while."

"Yeah, I guess."

They stood there in silence for a while. She didn't offer him a chair or a beer, and he didn't ask her about her life or her grandma, who had let him up the stairs as if time hadn't passed. They just stood there; feeling each other's presence, as if they were making sure it was real.

"I just can't believe you're actually here in front of me right now." She finally said.

"Well," he entered the room. "Here I am."

She raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

"So a guy can't just pay an old friend a visit without the apocalypse on his back?" He knew that was a terrible joke coming from him.

"So you're saying you missed me?"

"Something like that, maybe."

"Dean Winchester." She said, almost soundless. "How things have changed."

She then stood up and gave him a hug.

"You still smell the same." He observed.

She laughed, "Well, I still wear the same perfume. Here, have a seat."

"What were you doing?"

"I was about to catch up on my TV shows when you interrupted me."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. Tell me about you! How are things going? Where's Sam?"

"He's… home."

"Home?" She looked at him and tightened her eyes. "It seems you do have a lot to tell me."

Then he told her most of the story. Of how their grandfather came back from the past and they were introduced to the secret society of the Men of Letters. He told her about their new home, and about Kevin and the tablets.

"That sounds incredible." She finally said. "Why didn't you mention any of those things on your emails?"

"I'm not very good with writing things down, you know that. I just kept sending those things to let you know we were alive."

"I know but… tablets! Closing the gates of hell! You could've told me something!"

"Sorry about that, Soph."

"Soph." She mocked. "You know no one calls me that, right?"

"I do. And that's one of the reasons why I know you missed me."

"You're right. Having someone calling me 'Soph' really brightens my days. You're absolutely right."

He laughed at her.

"What is it?"

"I had forgotten how funny your accent sounded."

"You're ridiculous."

"I apologize." He tried to fake an accent, failing.

"You were not born to be British at all, Dean Winchester."

Then that same silence came again. It wasn't an awkward silence, like she was used to; it was something natural and light. Just the two of them in the same room, like two years before when they were hunting that nest of vampires together. Her first and, hopefully, last hunt.

"There's something you're not telling me."

"What?" He said, surprised.

"I don't know. Something in you seems off. Like you want to say something but you won't."

"You're psychic now, are you?"

"No, I just know you."

"Not as well as you wish."

"Please." She stared at him with her eyebrows raised. "You're telling me or not?"

After a few seconds and sighs, he looked at her, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes serious for the first time.

"It's Sam."

"Isn't it always?"

"It's different this time."

"Phew. Last time he had no soul. No, wait. He did have a soul. Or did he?"

"He did. But his memories were all messed up. I don't wanna talk about it."

"Then don't. What's the problem now?"

"He's dying. Or was dying."

"You're not being very clear."

"It's very complicated."

"I think I can follow."

* * *

"So you're saying there's an angel in Sam's body _right now_?"

They had drunk a beer each while Dean told Sophie about the trials and how Sam had gone through them. They were sitting on the kitchen by the counter.

"Yes."

"And he doesn't have a clue?"

"No." He took a sip from the bottle. "Pretty awesome, isn't it?"

She scoffed. "Won't you two ever learn?"

"Learn what?"

"As long as you keep hiding things from each other, you'll always end up having problems. You acted on an impulse, and I get that. You let that angel in your brother's body because he would've died but why don't you simply tell him?"

"Because I know him. He's going to refuse that angel and then Ezekiel is going to leave his body and he's going to die."

"He's a bit of a pain in the arse, isn't he?"

Dean laughed. "Yeah but he's my brother."

"Don't get me wrong, I adore Sam. And you might be right. I mean, he might say no to the angel and then it all goes screwy."

"What do I do, Soph?"

"That's why you came here?" She pretended to be offended. "To seek advice?"

"Pretty much."

"You jackass." She took a sip from her bottle and stood up. "Let's go get something to eat. I bet you're hungry."

"Always. Where?"

"Did you forget that my grandma makes the best burger in town? Just a few steps away and for free."

She offered him her hand and he took it. As they were going down the stairs, the smell of burgers and fries started to fill the room, and Dean felt so good that he almost forgot about his problems.

"Dean!" He heard the old lady shout. "Come here, boy!" Her accent was even stronger than Sophie's.

"Ms. Swann!"

"See? I told you she was awake." She smiled, her eyes shifting from Sophie to Dean. "What do you want?"

"Burgers and fries, grandma." Sophie sat by the table next to the jukebox. "And make it extra greasy for Dean."

"Coming!" She disappeared into the kitchen, leaving them with the other two people that had forgotten it was 1am on a Tuesday. The jukebox was playing some 80s song.

"I love that song!" Sophie said, cheerfully. "_Any way you want it, that's the way you need it, any way you want it!_"

"Stop. You know you can't sing."

"Oh aren't you the the Voice judge? Stop raining on my parade!" She winked at him.

"Don't be one of those people that turn everything into a song. Life isn't a damn Broadway musical."

"I only wish."

"Really? Singing every single word? From the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep? No way in hell that sounds good."

"Sounds like heaven to me. Pardon the word."

He smiled. "It's ok. People still think heaven is a good placed filled with good people so you can use that word."

"Now." She took his hands. "You have to find a way of telling Sam."

"Five minutes ago you were saying that Sam is a pain in the ass."

"I know, Dean, but he has to know. It's his body. And honestly, even a pain in the ass likes to live, and if you tell him that refusing Ezekiel means that he'll die, he might accept. Moreover, he'll find out eventually and it's going to be some Greek tragedy all over again, as usual."

"That's the problem. I can't work with 'might accept'."

Ms. Swann stormed off the kitchen with a flowered platter on her hands, carrying two burgers and more fries that both Dean and Sophie could eat together.

"Here it is, sweetheart." She noticed they were holding hands. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Grandma. How many times do I have to tell you that Dean is not my boyfriend? We're friends."

"Sure, dear, sure." She winked and left them again, humming a song they couldn't identify.

"Is she always like that?" Dean asked, smiling.

"No, she gets worse when you're around."

He grabbed the burger and took a bite. "Oh." He closed his eyes. "You know, if heaven was really a good place with good people and they made food there, that's how it would taste."

Sophie laughed. "So, about Sam…"

"Please." Dean interrupted her. "No problems when I'm eating the food of the Gods."


End file.
